Republican pollster Ed Goeas on Wednesday said that first-time presidential candidates will likely struggle with the news media and donors because they don’t have previous presidential campaigns to compare.
“The only people kind of watching them closely are the news media and big donors,” Goeas, president and CEO of The Tarrance Group, told Hill.TV’s Jamal Simmons in an appearance on “What America’s Thinking.”
“Both of those groups tend to judge candidates based on what they remember from the end of the last campaign, not where a beginning of a campaign should be,” he continued.
“That’s the one thing that makes it tough on the new candidates that are not well known is that their warts are going to show very, very quickly on mistakes they make as they grow their campaign,” he said.
The 2020 Democratic field is filled with a mix of seasoned politicians, as well as a number of younger candidates making their first presidential bids.
South Bend, Ind. Mayor Pete Buttigieg (D), who experienced a surge in popularity last month, has since faced scrutiny for the lack of racial diversity among his supporters.
Buttigieg has addressed the criticism, saying he is “intent” on fixing the lack of diversity of his campaign events.
— Julia Manchester
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